This invention relates to a confidential information bearing article, and more particularly to a construction in which a base sheet and a cover sheet having an opacifying and light reflective coating on their outer surfaces and bearing confidential information on their inner surfaces are secured together so as to prevent reading of the confidential information until opened.
A variety of articles have been used to conceal secret or confidential information within a two or more ply construction and to prevent unauthorized viewing thereof. Such confidentiality has been needed for lottery tickets, promotional coupons or offers, game cards, pay checks and the like. Typically, the confidential information is sealed between two or more plies of paper, paper board, plastic or the like. The construction is designed to be pulled apart to reveal the confidential information.
Likewise, many other types of confidential information are transmitted through the mail in the form of checks, invoices, bank statements, and the like. Envelopes have been typically used for transmitting this type of confidential information. Postcards provide an inexpensive alternative to sending messages in envelopes, but in the past they have not been suitable for the delivery of confidential information because the information is not concealed.
However, attempts have been made to produce post card constructions which permit the obscuring of confidential information until receipt by the addressee. For example, Tanaka, U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,199, teaches a post card construction in which confidential information is preprinted on the card, and then an opaque cover member which is substantially smaller in size than the card is adhered to the card, covering the confidential information.
Shishido, U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,954, also teaches a post card construction in which preprinted confidential information may be hidden from view by a laminated cover sheet which is secured to a transparent protection film layer bonded to a base sheet. The cover sheet is delaminated from the base sheet by the addressee of the post card to reveal the confidential information.
However, the construction of Shishido comprises several layers, one of which must be laminated by a heating operation requiring a closely controlled temperature range. Shishido also requires at least two separate printing operations. Further, neither Shishido nor Tanaka describe a procedure for automating the production of a series of postal cards.
Ormond, U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,333 also teaches a post card or mailer device for checks or other confidential information which consists of a base sheet containing indicia, a cover sheet having a tacky adhesive around its periphery, and a removable intermediate sheet which is attached to the tacky undersurface of the cover sheet. The intermediate sheet is removed before mailing and the cover sheet is adhered to the base sheet and remains secure until the cover sheet is removed to reveal the intended message. In an alternative embodiment, the cover sheet is applied directly to the base sheet with a pressure sensitive tape for use in automated mailings.
Hieken, U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,211, relates to a mailer for checks, invoices, and other confidential information consisting of a base sheet bearing confidential indicia and addressee information and a cover sheet which is strippably secured to the base sheet to cover the confidential information.
Chang, U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,386, relates to a multi-sheet business form having four plies. The top ply has on its surface a spot coating which comprises chromogen-containing pressure rupturable microcapsules and a color developer material which upon impact ruptures and forms an image on the underlying plies. The second and third plies may also support the coating on all or portions of their surfaces, while the fourth ply serves as a backing sheet. This form may also be printed in a continuous form assembly.
Welsch et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,605 discusses the use of a chemically reactive printer ribbon in which the ribbon is coated with a color forming chromogenic substance in solution. Selected areas on the front of a business form are coated with a color developer material so that when impacted with the ribbon, an image is formed on the paper. However, the ribbon must be in direct contact with the underlying receiving sheet to permit transfer of the color former to the color developer for proper image formation.
A problem with previous post card or envelope mailers containing confidential information has been the lack of opacity of the paper stock used. When held up to a strong light source, the confidential information could be perceived through the cover and/or base sheets of the construction. Increasing the thickness of the paper stock used results in greater opacity, but adds material costs to the mailer construction and makes the mailer more difficult to process as a continuous form. Further, the added thickness and weight of the mailer may increase postal costs.
Other commercially-available mailers incorporate a random ink pattern on the inner surfaces of the top and bottom sheets which attempt to prevent the contents of the mailer from being readable through the mailer. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,988,971, 4,081,127, and 4,095,695 which are hereby incorporated by reference. Other mailers employ a random block out pattern on the inner surfaces of the mailer having specific areas which have been coated with carbon ink. These carbon patches correspond with areas on the outer surface of the cover sheet which have been printed with block out patterns so that confidential information may be printed on the outside of the mailer and be transferred to an insert sheet inside of the mailer without being read from the outside. This mailer also includes a tab portion which is releasably secured to one ply of the mailer for opening. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,759. However, all of these mailers require the insertion of a separate sheet containing the intended message.
In addition to the limitations of the prior art, the use of sophisticated processing equipment by the U.S. Postal Service has resulted in new restrictions on the types of paper that may be used for mailers. For example, envelopes or mailers made from coated paper or plastic cannot be properly processed when using automated equipment. Also, paper containing dark fibers or which has block out patterns printed on the interior and/or exterior surfaces thereof may interfere with the operation of the optical character readers (OCRs) and bar code sorters used by the Postal Service. As a result, the Postal Service has requested that the address-bearing surface of a mailer must have a sufficient light reflective surface so that it can be read by an OCR scanner and must have a reflected light difference between the paper and the ink of at least 30%. In addition, the paper used to construct the mailers should have sufficient opacity to prevent printing, such as block out patterns, from inside the mailer from showing through in the OCR and bar code reading areas so that such printing does not interfere with OCR scanning.
Banking institutions have also implemented new regulations in regard to checks. In May, 1988, the Federal Reserve Board issued Regulation CC to implement the Expedited Funds Availability Act to facilitate the expedited processing of checks. Many checks are printed with markings on the reverse side of the check, such as carbon bands, blocks of jumbled letters and/or numbers, random or designed backgrounds, or cross-hatching applied for security in mailers to prevent reading the check information from the reverse side or through the mailer. However, when endorsing checks of this nature, depositary banks may be unable to avoid the markings, patterns, or designs, and consequently, paying banks may not be able to read the endorsement, causing the check to be returned and resulting in an unwanted delay in payment processing. Consequently, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which issues standard specifications for check endorsements has recommended that the check background color should be plain white, or a plain, light pastel color, and if printed patterns or designs are used as background, they should be in a muted, light color.
Accordingly, the need still exists in the art for a simple construction for concealing a wide variety of confidential information such as lottery tickets, game cards, coupons, checks, financial instruments, and other documents containing confidential information. The construction should be capable of keeping the printed information confidential until opened by the recipient or addressee and, in the case of mailer constructions, which complies with the recommended standards set by the U.S. Postal Service and banking institutions. Further, there remains a need for such a construction which can be used in an automated system for the production of a series of such confidential information bearing articles.